BOMB blasts killed six US Marines in western Iraq yesterday and US forces killed 29 militants in offensives aimed at uprooting al-Qaida insurgents ahead of the country’s vote on a new constitution.

At least nine people were hurt as explosions rocked a compound surrounding a mosque in Kufa, one of Iraq’s holy cities, today.

US soldiers clashed with Shiite gunmen in the holy city of Najaf today despite an agreement to end the bloody stand off with followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

SHI'ITE Muslim militants were in full control of two key Iraqi cities yesterday as violence escalated and Sunni fighters killed a US marine in the battle for Fallujah.